Speaker T.K. Wetherell, D-Daytona Beach, said the House needs the tapes to assure that all of Florida's residents are fairly represented when lawmakers reapportion legislative and congressional districts next year.

''We would invite the Republican Party and anybody connected with it to join in if they really believe in fairness,'' Wetherell said during a news conference in front of the U.S. courthouse.

Wetherell said most of the people who were not counted are black or Hispanic. In Florida, blacks vote overwhelmingly for Democrats while most Hispanics are Republicans.

Republicans charged that the lawsuit was a political trick by the Democrats who control the House.

''It sounds like a public relations gimmick to me,'' said Stan Smith, spokesman for the state Republican Party. ''It's very clearly a smoke screen to cover up the discriminatory practices of the Democratic Party against minorities in the past.''

A black lawmaker, Rep. Willie Logan, D-Opa-locka, said the Republicans were being hypocritical.

''Clearly if the Republican Party is interested in greater minority representation, then getting the adjusted figures is the foundation,'' he said.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the U.S. Department of Commerce, parent agent of the Census Bureau, to release the computer tapes to the state.

Wetherell filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the tapes but was rejected by Commerce Secretary Robert Mossbacher.

Officials in several states have already filed suits seeking release of the tapes. Wetherell said a state judge in Texas has prohibited lawmakers there from drawing reapportionment plans until they get the tapes.

Smith said the Florida Democrats should have waited to see what happens in the cases pending in other states.

Getting the adjusted number will not affect the number of congressional seats allocated to Florida, Wetherell said. The state is gaining four seats because of population growth, raising its total to 23.

Rep. Bo Johnson, D-Milton, said the adjusted figures would allow Florida to pick up an additional $1 billion over the next decade in federal grants based on population.